פרשת ויחי תשי"א - צוואת יעקב

And the time drew near that Israel must die; and he called his son Joseph, and said unto him: ‘If now I have found favour in thy sight, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me; bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt.

חסד ואמת MERCY AND TRUTH — The mercy shown to the dead is “mercy of truth” (true, disinterested kindness) since one cannot hope for any reward (Genesis Rabbah 76:3).

And the men said unto her: ‘Our life for yours, if ye tell not this our business; and it shall be, when the LORD giveth us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with thee.’

But when I sleep with my fathers, thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burying-place.’ And he said: ‘I will do as thou hast said.’

"Swear to me, and he swore" - Jacob was not suspecting that his righteous beloved son would defy his father's word, about which [Joseph] already promised that "[he] would do according to [Jacob's] word". [Jacob] did this in order to strengthen his position versus Pharaoh, for he might have not given permission Joseph to depart and say, "take your brothers and servants, and go [to the land of Canaan]"; or he might have wished for the prophet [Jacob] to be buried in Egypt as an honor and merit. Therefore, [Jacob] adjured [Joseph] so that [Pharaoh would feel] it was improper [to make Joseph] violate his oath. (Also, because of the oath, Joseph would put extra effort into it.) And so it happened, as [Pharaoh] said (50:6), "Go and bury your dead, as you have sworn".

השבעה לי!. This was only a device to enable Joseph to overcome objections by the Egyptians if they would not permit transfer of Yaakov’s remains to another country.

But when I sleep with my fathers, thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burying-place.’ And he said: ‘I will do as thou hast said.’

And it came to pass after these things, that one said to Joseph: ‘Behold, thy father is sick.’ And he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.